Good old Londinium

[rakkoon]

So, to get away from our pups, me and the missus have one weekend to ourselves every year. This year we're visiting good old London town.
Been there a couple of times, what would you recommend to someone who's there with his loved one and is only there for two days.

Also where can I find some good second hand book stores? I found them once and never again. Perhaps they all went bankrupt :smalleek:

[KuReshtin]

I believe the general advice on all things second hand and other otherworldly things, Camden Market is the place to go. They seem to have everything there.

other than that, one of the locals should be able to help you. Archonic Energy and Nameless spring to mind.

[xPANCAKEx]

what sort of things do you like to do?

and do you mind traveling a bit "off the beaten track" to find stuff?

[rakkoon]

We're only there for two days so taking the train to Manchester would be out of the question. Stuff not in the local guide would be perfect.

Normally we'd visit museums and monuments and such but for a short visit that'd be a bit too much.
Perhaps walk about Hyde park, visit Covent garden, Camden Market is fun but been there enough I think.

Is there a specific location / pub / store / park that we should see?

I once found a bookstore where the Pratchetts were buy-two-get-one-for-free. That's when I realised I was only missing three discworld novels, a sad day actually. Last time I found an Oxfam store where they had some Dune books.

[xPANCAKEx]

come out east to the Brick Lane area (nearest tube is either shoreditch or liverpool street) - lots of interesting shops, both new and thrift, and indian food.

its not so popular - but try taking a walk up the monument. Its a couple of hundred stairs to the top, but its quieter than the london eye and the view is completely worth the effort

parks - my favourite park is the pheonix garden. Its small, but secluded, and right in central london (off charing cross road, behind the theatre where blood brothers is on/st martin in the fields church - its on new compton street). Its great for a nice place to eat lunch in the sun

food - what sort of food you do you like? I can recommend all things veggie/vegan but beyond that my knowledge is slightly more limited

[Manga Shoggoth]

It will pay to book in advance, but:


My wife and child recomend the London Eye.
For straight sightseeing there is a tour bus that takes you round most of the sights.
Apparantly, Duck Tours are awesome.
I tend to like the British Museum (Holborn), the Natural History Museum, the Science museum (both from South Kensington tube) and the London Museum (Barbican)
EDIT: Seconded the Monument - the view isn't as good as the Eye, but you do get to see a fair bit and you don't have to book in advance. If you like walking then it is also close to the Thames Path.
EDIT THE SECOND: If you are in that area of london it is worth looking up the lift times for Tower Bridge, and watching it from London Bridge or outside the old Billingsgate on the Thames Path. Lift times here: Bridge Lift Times (http://www.towerbridge.org.uk/TBE/EN/BridgeLiftTimes/). You are also close to HMS Belfast (on the other side of the river)


As far as books are concerned, try around Charing Cross Road around Leicester Square tube (there is also a number of comic shops in that area).

Take care when picking attractions to visit - some of them are extremely expensive for what they are.

Failing that, invest in a good map and hunt things out. There are lots of things hidden away in all the small corners.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Do what I did, speed-tour North-London in three hours and spend the rest in pubs!:smalltongue:

[CarpeGuitarrem]

"Sure, and I wish I were king of Londinium with a shiny hat."

Oh. Wait. That's not what this thread is about...

[rakkoon]

Great views, a fun park, good suggestions.

I proposed to Missus Rakkoon on the Tower Bridge, might be fun to find that lift, thanks.

Foodwise I'm not too bothered, hit me with the veggie options!

[xPANCAKEx]

oh ho hoooooo, opened the flood gates now ;)

cheap:

maoz - old compton street (soho) - its a falafal joint. Its a european chain. Its great. nuff said
beetroot - 92 berwick street (soho) - more of a cafe - kinda place where you pick your food at the counter and pay on the size of container. Good eats and fresh
vitaorganic - 74 wardour street (soho) - another 'more relaxed' pick your food at the counter place. All organic. Great mix of drinks and food. Never been disapointed with anything i've eaten there
inspiral lounge - high street camden, next to the lock, opposite All Saints - yet another pick-at-the-counter place. Its very 'alternative' (read: FULL OF DIRTY HIPPY SCUM! what with there rocks and crystals and poi and dreadlocks!) and chilled, nice place to eat in camden if youre up there shopping. Food is good. Cake is GREAT. Lots of beverages to pick and choose from
Tortilla - upper street, opposite Angel tube - for when you want a taco/burrito and dont want to go to a chain. There ARE better mexican cantinas over here but why travel to london for mexican food? This place is great if youre on the go in islington
Food For Thought - neal street (covent garden) - theres a reason theres a cue out the door EVERY SINGLE DAY at lunch time, and its not slow service. Take out is available, or if you wanna sit in downstair, its a case of finding a space or sharing a table. Help yourself to water from the communal jug. This kinda place isnt everyones cup of tea, but the food is wholesome and filling and the menu changes daily. Bread slices are thick enough to beat giants to death with, and go great with the soup of the day if you want to eat cheap.

finer dining - these places you'd go for sit-down evening meal. Most arnt really "family" restuarants, more somewhere for a date/special occasion. Mildreds is the most chilled of the three, the other two are more "fine dining"

mildreds - lexington street - you cant book, you just have to turn up and wait. Service is occasionally a bit hit and miss, but the food has never been disapointing. When i have money i go far too often. im talking twice a month. http://www.mildreds.co.uk. As a mark of how far i'm willing to go, i used to phone up in my lunch hour, order, treck 20 minutes there, pick up, go back to work and spend my last 20 eating
manna - 4 Erskine Road, primrose hill (nearest tube: chalk farm) - londons longest running veggie restaurant. Actually its all vegan now. http://mannav.com/ seasonal menu. possibly my favourite restaurant in town, even if its the one i go to least frequently of the 3 im recommending
the gate - hammersmith - http://www.thegate.tv - i once lashed out 90 quid on a meal for 2 (without wine). I didnt regret it. i travel an hour to get here. i dont regret the journey. if the michelin guide paid more attention to vegan/veggie joints this place would make the list.
SAF - just off old street, shoreditch - http://www.safrestaurant.co.uk/ - ive yet to eat here (ive been poor) but ive heard nothing but good things. Its all vegan, and very up there on the healthy eating scale. Look at the site and you'll want to eat everything.


also: parks: greenwich park and the observatory is great for views

[Timberwolf]

Books - Tottenham Court Road used to be pretty good. No idea what it's like now.

[smellie_hippie]

*snip*
inspiral lounge - high street camden, next to the lock, opposite All Saints - yet another pick-at-the-counter place. Its very 'alternative' (read: FULL OF DIRTY HIPPY SCUM! what with there rocks and crystals and poi and dreadlocks!) and chilled, nice place to eat in camden if youre up there shopping. Food is good. Cake is GREAT. Lots of beverages to pick and choose from
*end snip*

I should take offense to this good sir. :smallannoyed: I would say something about it, but I'm too busy cleaning my crystals with sunlight and happy thoughts and letting my hair curl up with dread-locky wonderfulness... :smallamused:

*leans to the side as if listening to something faint*

Is that the Grateful dead?

*........................wanders out of thread..............*

[CurlyKitGirl]

Do what I did, speed-tour North-London in three hours and spend the rest in pubs!:smalltongue:

It's true. AE's speed tour of London is really good. We managed to hit most of the famous spots in the area pretty quickly. Plus ferry on the Thames.

And I also recommend going to 221B Baker Street.
Because it's now a Sherlock Holmes museum. I wish I'd gone, but it completely slipped my mind. So go to 221B Baker Street. Especially if you like Sherlock Holmes.

I also suggest trying to go to a show in the West End. First time I went up Londinium we (people from my college) went to the Fortune Theatre to see The Lady in Black - it's quite cheap and it's an excellent play. Very scary, especially in the second half, so it's worth the ''slightly dull'' first half.
There's also a stall thingy - can't remember what it is- that you can show up to in the evenings where you can get really cheap tickets for most things.
But it does depends on what's sold well or not, as those tickets are a bums-on-seats kind of thing.

[Lyesmith]

Ah! Yes, I can heartily reccomend The Woman In Black, and if it's on The 39 Steps - scary and funny as hell, respectively.

Also, camden market might provide for some interesting shopping, if you're into that kind of thing.

[xPANCAKEx]

39 steps was great when i saw it - very well done for a 4 man cast

there are other smaller shows also worth checking out, and a great standup comedy scene too


I should take offense to this good sir. :smallannoyed: I would say something about it, but I'm too busy cleaning my crystals with sunlight and happy thoughts and letting my hair curl up with dread-locky wonderfulness... :smallamused:

*leans to the side as if listening to something faint*

Is that the Grateful dead?

*........................wanders out of thread..............*

you'll be pleased to know my tongue was firmly in my cheeky when i wrote all that

apart from the occasional lack of personal hygene, or TERRIBLE music taste, most of you dirty hippy scum arnt half bad :smallwink:

[rakkoon]

Good places to eat. A lead on a book shop. A Sherlock Holmes museum? Cool, that would be something different. A show, I proposed after seeing My Fair Lady, that was fun.

[Archonic Energy]

It's true. AE's speed tour of London is really good. We managed to hit most of the famous spots in the area pretty quickly. Plus ferry on the Thames.


if it wasn't for that stupid race you would have seen more!
not allowing us to cross over to see Dowing St. :smallmad:

there are some good second hand book stores near Lester Square (yeah it's spelt wrong sue me!) some even focus on first editions

[Maelstrom]

Last time I was out there, I spent half a day in Daunt Books off of Marylebone High St.

Nice little area, as well. As a bonus, 221b Baker street is a moments walk away...

edit: I see others have posted about Baker street, so much more the pertinent, then

[Thufir]

I believe Baker Street also has a chess shop!
This may be of less interest to people who aren't me...

[CurlyKitGirl]

if it wasn't for that stupid race you would have seen more!
not allowing us to cross over to see Downing St. :smallmad:

So that's what you were arguing with that guy about!
DD did get to cross to the other side of the road on his Photo Race though.


There are some good second hand book stores near Lester Square (yeah it's spelt wrong sue me!) some even focus on first editions

:smallfrown:
Actually, it's probably best to not have set us loose in a bookshop. We'd never have got out.

@rakkoon: sorry mate, but it seems the general consensus is that 221B Baker Street and book shops the place to go. Hooray for nerdage! Who cares about world famous landmarks, a fantastic theatre scene, and everything else Londinium has to offer.
We can tell you about book shops and museums devoted to fictional characters!

[potatocubed]

I recommend the Sir John Soames museum - it's one of London's lesser known museums, basically some dude's house packed full of things we nicked from the empire.

[Aedilred]

Not to be pedantic, but it's in fact John Soane (that way he can find it when he googles it). It's an interesting museum, aye.

As far as pubs go, my current favourite is the Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street. It was (re)built in 1667 and is very large and atmospheric; it's also, being a Sam Smiths pub, extremely cheap. The Fox and Anchor in Farringdon is good too; it has good food and brews its own beer, although it is a bit on the pricey side.

[Klose_the_Sith]

@rakkoon: sorry mate, but it seems the general consensus is that 221B Baker Street and book shops the place to go. Hooray for nerdage! Who cares about world famous landmarks, a fantastic theatre scene, and everything else Londinium has to offer.
We can tell you about book shops and museums devoted to fictional characters!

Eh, when I went there things like the bookshops were the only parts free from letdown and/or epic fail.

So I completely recommend this approach.

[Ponderthought]

Perhaps not a recommendation as much as a challenge, do some urban exploration, and see what you find. Be careful though ive heard cctv is everywhere.

Tell us poor texans what you find..we cant really explore anything here, because of the rapid decay caused by the heat. That and no one digs any basements or underground levels to be trespassed in, as the ground is to hard to dig very far.

[xPANCAKEx]

Perhaps not a recommendation as much as a challenge, do some urban exploration, and see what you find. Be careful though ive heard cctv is everywhere.

Tell us poor texans what you find..we cant really explore anything here, because of the rapid decay caused by the heat. That and no one digs any basements or underground levels to be trespassed in, as the ground is to hard to dig very far.

theres not too much in central london to explore except the occasional abandoned office block or tube station, and those have all been done to death. Gotta head out of central to find the gems

[rakkoon]

I think I've been there for fifteen days in total over the last ten years, enough to visit the better known museums several times and visit the Tower etc.

It's the bloody bookshops I can't find anymore and Missus Rakkoon loved the
idea of a Sherlock Holmes museum so nerd on people.

A chess shop? I love chess but filling an entire shop with chess related items...actually that should be possible, I'll look it up!

[Manga Shoggoth]

A chess shop? I love chess but filling an entire shop with chess related items...actually that should be possible, I'll look it up!

There's one near Great Portland Street tube as well, but I doubt that you will be in that area.

[rakkoon]

A visting friend mentioned the banana book shop at Covent Garden.

[Timberwolf]

There you go (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=second+hand+books+london&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=second+hand+books&hnear=London&view=text&ei=FglWTIukAYKi0gTm3vi3Cw&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=more-results&resnum=1&ved=0CC4QtQMwAA)

That should be a start.